


And loves to live i' the sun

by risinggreatness



Series: Circle 'round the sun [80]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Non-Graphic Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 13:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3327875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/risinggreatness/pseuds/risinggreatness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Rebellion and Mandalore, this is what Han and Leia fought for, a peaceful galaxy to live in and now to raise their family in (not EU compliant)</p>
            </blockquote>





	And loves to live i' the sun

The apartment almost seems to echo in the days after Luke and Mara’s departure. Years of all living together, Han is used to closer quarters ( _close quarters on the Falcon, close quarters with the Alliance, close quarters on every new campaign, you name it_ ); newfound space is unusual.

Pres stares at the empty room, not because he thinks of it of a place devoid of its people, but because there are fewer nooks and crannies for him to hide in.

Han takes him to the Falcon instead, docked and readying to leave in a week’s time.

Han is torn: it has been too long since it’s just Chewie and him and the Falcon, but he sees only cobbled time with Leia and Pres from this point forward. Though he shouldn’t be surprised, he is still in slack-jawed awe Leia manages to accomplish everything she does.

Both Pres and Chewie get distracted by the holochess set. Han supposes it’s better than cards, even if the game means nothing to the kid.

The empty room is the last place he expects to find Leia later that afternoon. He throws his arms over her shoulders casually, but she does not move.

“What’s up?”

“It’s strange isn’t it, now that they’re gone.”

Gone is pushing it – like they’d left for another system; another galaxy. It’s ten minutes from door to door, if Han doesn’t speed.

Still, having had Luke underfoot since they first met at the cantina does make the whole thing feel unnatural.

“I still owe you fifty credits.”

Leia cranes her neck around to look up at him, a smirk across her face, “Yes, you do.”

An old bet that Luke and Mara Jade wouldn’t last and a bet Han thoroughly lost.

“Although we never specified how long they had to last, I still could hold onto my cash.” Waving a hand around, “Use it to spruce up the room now that it’s ours.”

“And what are we going to do with this room?”

“Do we want another kid?” Han dares the question that’s been on the tip of their tongues for months. They’re still both learning with Pres and maybe it isn’t the right time to ask her, but it’s not like they planned to have Pres when they did.

But Leia’s been adamant they should have more than one child and it took so long for Pres to come, what’s the harm in trying now? ( _Han guiltily suspects it’s his fault; his years of crime catching up with him; with them._ )

Leia removes his arms from her and puts her own around his neck. His encircle her waist.

“That’s not such a bad idea, Captain Solo. Your suggestion will be given due consideration.”

“Glad to know my opinion matters here,” he mutters, Leia tugging at his shirt.

Their clothes fall away first and it takes little effort to hoist Leia up and against the wall, her legs hooked around him.

Spent and sprawled out on the floor, Han wraps locks of her hair around his forefinger, letting the dying sunlight shine through the long strands.

“So how was that for due consideration?” Leia teases, running her hands down his sides, making Han ache for a second round.

“Not too shabby.” He plays it cool, though Leia can see straight through his shit. “But we better rescue Chewie soon.”

Leia laughs in agreement as he gets up to pull his pants on, but looks down at her; upright, only her hair for cover.

“It’s a good look for you,” he says in complete earnest.

“So’s that,” she fires back, rising to trace a red mark on his abdomen. “But you’re wearing far too much.”

“Can’t go around scarring Pres or his future sibling,” he retorts, kissing her still-exposed stomach, both their chests filled with laughter.

\----------

“Time to get up, mister,” Leia whispers, placing a hand on what she thinks is Pres’s shoulder – it’s hard to tell when he’s curled himself into a ball under his blankets.

She should treasure these last few days where they only have to make sure one child through the night ( _or through the journeys on lightspeed, like today_ ). The girls already keep her up, though Leia suspects it’s only one of them. It takes a good deal of meditation and reaching out with the Force to calm them, but it is temporary respite at best.

( _Han claims to have felt a particularly hard kick while they were attempting to sleep and asks if Pres was as much of a pain in the ass. Leia screws her face up in the dark, but, no, Pres wasn’t constantly moving._

_“Maybe it’s a twins thing. You kicked Luke a lot, didn’t you?”_ )

The bundle of blankets makes an indistinguishable, unhappy moan.

“Come on. If you don’t get up soon, you’ll miss coming out of lightspeed.”

The bundle shifts and Pres’s head emerges, hair a womprat’s nest and bleary-eyed.

If they were home, Leia might have insisted he get dressed, but Pres loves the stranger minutiae of space travel.

Pres doesn’t hold her hand as they move for the cockpit; footing as sure and natural as if he was born to the life. He climbs into Han’s lap easily, for a front row seat. Leia lowers herself into a passenger’s chair. ( _She’s seen one lightspeed; she might as well have seen them all. She does not say this to Han or Luke._ )

“You ready for this?” Han asks. Pres nods eagerly. Han leans forward, taking Pres with him, “Hit that switch.”

Leia watches the pair of them intently as the engines switch power and the endless stream of light pulls away. ( _Pres’s eyes are even brighter._ )

Bespin enters their view, hazy and orange.

\----------

After Han’s own adamant insistence he be with Leia every step of the way, he misses when she is rushed from her office to the hospital. Again.

He’s replacing the landing gears on the Falcon when she calls.

“Get Pres to Luke.”

“Can’t you do that –”

“Yes, Han, let’s get me to concentrate on that while I’m in the middle of _fucking labor_.”

Han winces, but doesn’t lose another second. From the hangar to the senate to the Temple, he doesn’t find Luke, but hands Pres off to Mara.

“Be good,” he reminds Pres, though he really doesn’t need to.

“Tall order,” says Mara, eyebrows raised.

Han’s winded by the time he reaches Leia’s room, but does his best to hide it before entering. He finds Leia, reclined and as far as he can tell, relaxed.

“You don’t look great,” she says, barely glancing up from her datapads.

Han wants to argue she’s supposed to look worse than him at the moment, but doesn’t brook the argument.

“Where are the girls?”

“Not ready.”

Han sits at her side, finally catching his breath. Leia puts her work aside and her head back. It’s going to be a long wait. ( _Leia already grumbles at their lateness._ )

Head bowed, he drifts off until nails dig into his palms and Leia’s yells rouse him. From there on out, it all flies by for Han. No sooner than Breha is with them, Samara follows.

Leia is handed Sam; Han rises to pick up Bee. She squirms at her newfound freedom, but settles quickly.

Han sits down on the bed so both he and Leia can get better looks. Side-by-side, Bee is unmistakably fair compared to Sam.

“Skywalkers, huh?” Han mutters, more to himself than Leia, who nods silently in agreement. At least Han figures where it must have come from.

“Let’s get Pres in here,” Leia suggests as Han puts Bee in her lap.

As soon as he opens the door, Pres runs past him to Leia, leaving Luke sitting with Mara. He doesn’t know how long they’ve been waiting, but hopes it wasn’t most of it.

“We’ll wait,” Luke says waving Han back into the room.

He turns on his heel to observe the scene before him: Pres struggling to climb up, as Leia holds fast to Bee and Sam. In Pres’s final effort, he succeeds, Leia having gently pulled him up with the Force.

“What do you think, kid?” Han asks, joining them. “Like being a big brother?”

“They aren’t doing anything,” Pres observes.

Leia laughs and kisses him on the top of his head, “No, but you’ll all be tearing apart the apartment before dad or I can do anything about it.” To Han, “You haven’t held Sam yet.”

Han gladly takes their youngest, his heart and head filled with everything he has to teach them all: listen to Leia first, fly the Falcon, annoy Luke, cheat the cheaters, the jokes Chewie likes, try not to think about the past too much.

Bee and Sam will catch on fast, if Pres is any indicator.

Besides, they’re Leia’s daughters. They’re his daughters.

( _He always catches on eventually._ )

\----------

With three tiny children to raise, lovemaking becomes something captured here and there and is somehow more languorous. They take their time to make it easier to get up when the time inevitable comes.

Usually Leia picks up on the children’s distress before it goes too far, but there’s nothing like being startled back to everything else when Pres comes banging on the door for either of them.

Han extracts himself from between her legs to investigate; Leia lets out a long exhale, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face.

She doesn’t make it to the Temple much these days, though it will become more frequent as the children come of age. Her purpose today though is to find Mara.

Except Mara isn’t in her usual haunts, which is strange, for Leia was sure the Force was telling her to find Mara at the Temple.

She finds her, eventually, in a room Leia’s not sure she’s ever been in; a room that affords a good view of the city.

“I’m surprised it took you this long to find me.”

Mara does not get up or turn around to face her. Leia sits in the meditative position beside her.

“You’re good at disappearing, but it’s hard for Skywalkers to hide from each other.”

Mara lets out a sardonic laugh, “How do you know she won’t be Jade through-and-through?”

“A girl? Congratulations!”

Three girls in the family and Pres left to himself. ( _Leia doesn’t worry; he takes to being the older brother well._ )

“We kept putting it off and putting it off and now she’s coming and it’s like I’ve never wanted anything else. It’s frightening.”

Leia can’t say she knows Mara’s deepest wants, but she understands the fears better.

She asks the obvious, “Have you spoken to Luke?”

Mara sighs before answering, “Yes. He’ll tell you differently, but he’s been ready for some time now. It’s easy for him, he’s not the one who has to carry her around for another seven months, he’s not the one who has to give up missions –”

Mara’s face screws up in frustration as her venting becomes more rapid fire.

Finally, “I don’t want anyone to say I’ll love her less.”

Though Mara isn’t usually receptive to gestures of affection, Leia reaches across and grabs her hand. She doesn’t shrug away.

Softly, “No one who matters thinks that. She’ll _know_ it.” Then sharply, “And fuck anyone who says otherwise.”

Mara cracks a smile and squeezes Leia’s hand before letting go.

“So… going to overburden us with sage advice from dealing with three kids?”

“Planning on three?” Leia asks dryly.

“No.”

Neither were we, Leia thinks. ( _Not that we’d have it any other way._ )

Leia stretches backwards, considering her first piece of parental wisdom.

“Enjoy the alone time while you can.”

“Really? Your advice is have sex now?”

Leia laughs, though she’s completely serious, “Pretty soon you won’t be able to, even if you want to. Then she’ll be crying to be fed, or worse, hammering on the door. That’s definitely worse.”

“So not even your famous multi-tasking is immune?”

“There’s very little multi-tasking when the children are concerned. They’re everything.”

Leia looks at Mara, taking in her words.

When Mara speaks, she’s quiet, but certain.

“Yes, they are.”

\----------

Coming up the stairs to the Temple, Han is surprised when Pres comes bounding out to him. He anticipated tracking him down was going to be more difficult than finding the girls. At least he knows where they are.

“Master Seddwia showed me how to do this today – look!”

Pres does a handstand which turns into a tumble, landing neatly on his feet.

“Pretty impressive, but I’m interested to see whether you can dodge Bee and Sam at the same time.”

Pres sticks his tongue out, but leads the way to where Ahsoka oversees the girls. Through the door, Pres hangs back temporarily until Ahsoka beckons him forward to join his sisters and cousin.

“Come on, let’s try and get some focus back,” Ahsoka instructs firmly, though she’s grinning broadly.

Han props himself up by the door, watching the strange phenomena that are his children and niece.

“They’re remarkably gifted,” says Luke, joining Han in his observing.

“You’re saying that because we’re related.”

If it were anything else, Han would puff up in pride and say, “Yeah, look who their parents are; they’ll be good at almost anything,” but this is different. Anakin Skywalker and Vader are only slowly beginning to separate in his mind and Han still doesn’t need either of them taking shape in the kids’ lives.

“I’m saying that because they are, in their own right. And there are things you can just feel and know in the Force.”

“ _You_ can,” Han jokingly scoffs.

Luke smirks back. It’s been years since Han turned his nose up at the old man’s notions of the Force, and he may be married into a family who lives and breathes it, letting his kids practice it to their fullest potential, but he can still cling to his doubts.

The class breaks up; Han scoops up Bee and Sam in each arm, Pres leading again.

They’ve almost made it back to the apartment, when Han changes directions.

“Where are we going?” Bee asks.

“Time for another lesson.”

The Falcon doesn’t really need much work today, but Han pulls apart the control panel, all three of them closely huddled around him. Maybe a little dangerous, but about as safe as throwing some mystical energy field around.

They listen just as hungrily to what he tells them about making sure your ship lasts with you for a lifetime. And hopefully then some. The Falcon’s gonna last the Solos forever, if Han has anything to do with it.

\----------

Convincing anyone to swim with her is unsuccessful. It might be a bit chilly for a dip in the lake, but Leia is not deterred. Pres and Bee lean over the edge of the dock while Sam sits in Han’s lap, further back.

“You _sure_ you don’t want to come in?” she coaxes.

“It’s cold, mom!” protests Bee.

If she were really home, with her childhood friends, none of them would think twice about jumping into a near-frigid Alderaanian lake. Winter is still a month off on Naboo; it is mild at best.

“If you insist,” Leia resigns, but mills close to the edge of the dock in the water, where she may dole out chilly lake kisses to all of them. Pres and Bee don’t fight them, but Sam balks loudly. Han laughs.

New Alderaan is proving as successful as a new home as it can for the remaining displaced Alderaanians, but somehow, Naboo’s found its way to fill that void in Leia’s life. The irony is not lost on her.

Children tucked in as stars multiply across the sky, Leia and Han collapse into bed themselves. Leia wraps herself around Han’s side.

“You’re freezing,” Han mumbles. Leia pulls herself even closer.

“You and Sam are exactly the same.”

Han laughs, “Good to know one of them takes after me. But get your cold feet off me.”

He’s only inviting trouble and he should know better.

He stops complaining when she’s on top of him properly.

The night is only heat and warmth, even as the sun rises over the mountaintops.

**Author's Note:**

> See author bio for discussion on this 'verse.


End file.
